1. Technical Field of the Invention.
This invention broadly relates to locking devices. The invention further relates to locking devices useful to physically restrain the movement by an individual of his or her arms and/or legs. This invention more particularly relates to mechanical restraining devices referred to in the art as “handcuffs.” This invention specifically relates to an operating and a locking mechanism for a handcuff.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Problems Solved.
It is known in the art that a handcuff is an apparatus which is ordinarily placed around the wrist or ankle of an individual. The apparatus is usually directly connected to another such device by a bridge, such as a chain, a link, or a bar, to thereby form a combination of such devices. The combination is referred to in the art as “handcuffs” or as a “set of handcuffs.”
It is known in the art to place handcuffs upon an individual to render such individual physically ineffective or powerless. Accordingly, handcuffs can be employed in the field of law enforcement for the purpose of physically restraining an individual from escape and/or to prevent such restrained individual from injuring himself and/or some other person, such as a police officer. It is apparent that a handcuff, or handcuffs, which can be opened and removed by the person being restrained, or by any other unauthorized person, either by force or by device defeats the purpose of the handcuffs.
A handcuff described in prior work of the applicant herein contains mechanisms which function to permit the apparatus to open and to close and also function to prevent the apparatus from opening. The first function is referred to as the “operating mechanism.” The second function is referred to as the “locking mechanism.”
An example of a handcuff previously described by applicant is an apparatus comprised of a combination of at least two, and sometimes three, planar, substantially parallel, plates and a movable arm. The plates and movable arm cooperate to produce a ring defined as a “restraining space” which can be opened and closed. It is to be understood that the wrist or ankle of the individual to be restrained is placed and confined in the restraining space.
The combination of plates is a sandwich structure comprised of two, aligned, exterior plates which cooperate to form a stationary arm and an enclosed interior space. The enclosed interior space is referred to as the “machinery space.” The machinery space can sometimes be further defined by holes and cavities formed in a third plate positioned between the two exterior plates. The third plate separates the exterior plates and provides spaces in which the operating and locking mechanisms are positioned.
Each exterior plate is ordinarily a unitary body comprised of a first section, referred to as a “cheek plate,” and a second section, referred to as a “plate arm.” The cheek plates serve as the top and bottom covers of the machinery space and as a base to support the operating and locking mechanisms positioned in the machinery space. The plate arms combine to form the mentioned stationary arm.
Each plate arm, which extends beyond the cheek plate to form one side of the stationary arm, is a rigid, curvilinear, i.e., a “C-shaped,” member which terminates at an end adapted for hinged attachment to the movable arm. The stationary arm, formed by the combination of the aligned, curvilinear, plate arms, is referred to as such to distinguish the combination of plate arms from the movable arm of the handcuff. The combination of the terminal ends of each plate arm is referred to as the hinge end of the stationary arm.
The movable arm of a handcuff, which is referred to as a swing arm, is also a rigid, curvilinear member having a pivot end and a free end. The pivot end of the swing arm is positioned between the terminal ends of each plate arm and is rotatably connected to the hinge end of the stationary arm. The free end of the swing arm is equipped with teeth adapted to engage, that is, contact and intermesh with, opposing teeth mounted within the machinery space.
Accordingly, in operation, the pivot end of the swing arm and the hinge end of the stationary arm cooperate to permit the free end of the swing arm to rotate into at least a portion of the machinery space wherein the teeth on the free end of the swing arm engage teeth mounted within the machinery space to thereby form the restraining space.
In handcuffs known in the art prior to the work of applicant, the restraining space is opened by causing the teeth of the swing arm to disengage from the teeth in the machinery space followed by rotating the swing arm out of the machinery space. Thus, the operating mechanism of handcuffs known in the art prior to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,224 features a substantially linear member enclosed in the machinery space having a plurality of teeth mounted on one side thereof which are adapted to engage teeth on the swing arm. The linear member is hinged at one end and biased to urge the teeth on the linear member into engagement with the teeth on the swing arm. The mechanism has been characterized as a hinged pawl situated within the machinery space of the handcuff. The swing arm must enter the machinery space to form, i.e. close, the restraining space. Accordingly, the swing arm is rotated into the machinery space with force sufficient to overcome the resistance of the biasing source to cause the pawl to rotate about the hinge. The result of this action is to raise the teeth on the pawl out of engagement with the teeth on the swing arm. The operating mechanism employs a reciprocating action wherein teeth on the pawl and teeth on the swing arm are continually alternating between an engaged and a disengaged condition as the swing arm is rotated into the machinery space. This operating mechanism is referred to as the ratchet and pawl mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,224, a parent of the present invention provides a handcuff having an operating mechanism which is at all times in full contact and intermeshed with teeth on the swing arm when the handcuff is being either opened or closed, and it also provides a handcuff having a locking mechanism which can permit or prevent movement of the operating mechanism.
The '224 patent discloses a handcuff comprised of a housing having an operating and a locking mechanism enclosed therein. The housing is comprised of at least two, substantially identically shaped, opposed, substantially parallel plates and a swing arm. Each plate is a unitary body having an inside surface, an outside surface, an arm side and an open side, and each plate is divided into a first section, referred to as a “cheek plate,” and a second section referred to as a “plate arm.” A plate arm is a narrow, elongated, curvilinear part of the plate which extends in an arc from the arm side of the plate to a terminal end on the open side of the plate. The plates are spaced apart to provide a machinery space between the opposed inside surfaces of each cheek plate and a curvilinear stationary arm defined by the spaced, opposed plate arms. The space between the terminal ends of the plate arms is referred to as the hinge end of the stationary arm.
The swing arm, like the stationary arm, is also a narrow, elongated curvilinear body having a pivot end and a free end. The pivot end of the swing arm is positioned between the terminal ends of the plate arms and rotatably connected to the hinge end of the stationary arm. The swing arm extends in an arc toward the open side of each plate from the hinge end of the stationary arm to the free end of the swing arm. The free end of the swing arm is equipped with teeth adapted to engage, that is, contact and intermesh with, opposing teeth mounted within the machinery space.
The swing arm, the stationary arm, and the inner edges of the opposed cheek plates cooperate to form the restraining space of the handcuff when the free end of the swing arm is rotated into and engaged with teeth mounted in the machinery space.
The operating mechanism of the handcuff disclosed in the '224 patent is housed in the machinery space between the opposed cheek plates. The operating mechanism can be a single toothed wheel, that is, a gear, whose teeth engage the teeth mounted on the swing arm. The operating mechanism can be comprised of two gears, each of whose teeth can simultaneously engage the teeth mounted on the swing arm. The operating mechanism can be comprised of an array of three intermeshing gears having two gears, referred to as “working gears,” whose teeth simultaneously engage the teeth mounted on the swing arm, and a third gear, referred to as an “idler gear,” whose teeth are continually engaged with the teeth on at least one working gear and can be continually engaged with the teeth on the two working gears. When the handcuff is being opened or closed, that is, when the restraining space is being opened or closed, teeth mounted on the swing arm are always in contact with teeth on at least one of the working gears. Thus, gear teeth engage teeth of the swing arm when the swing arm is in the closed position and not moving, when the swing arm is being rotated toward the open side of the plates to place the handcuff into the closed position and when the swing arm is being rotated away from the open side of the plates to place the handcuff in an open position.
Any working gear of the operating mechanism having teeth engaged with teeth on the swing arm must rotate to enable any movement of the swing arm. Accordingly, the handcuff of the '224 patent also provides a multi-function locking mechanism which controls the rotation of the gears. The locking mechanism is housed in the machinery space between the opposed cheek plates in a location separate from the operating mechanism. In a first locking position referred to as the “closing position,” the locking mechanism is positioned to permit rotation of the gears in one direction to permit closing rotation of the swing arm, and to prevent rotation of the gears in the opposite direction to prevent opening rotation of the swing arm. In a second locking position referred to as the “locked position,” the locking mechanism is positioned to prevent any rotation of the gears in any direction to prevent any rotation of the swing arm in any direction. In a third locking position referred to as the “free position,” the locking mechanism is positioned to permit rotation of the gears in any direction to permit rotation of the swing arm in any direction.
The operating mechanism of the handcuff of the '224 patent is broadly comprised of a first working gear and a swing arm. The first working gear is rotatably mounted on a first gear axle which is perpendicularly attached to a fixed planar base, and the swing arm is rotatably mounted on a swing arm axle which is also perpendicularly attached to the planar base.
The operating mechanism of the handcuff of the '224 patent can further include a control pin comprising a linear rod slidably mounted on, and parallel to, the fixed planar base in a position opposed to the first working gear and preferably perpendicular to the first gear axle. The rod has a proximal end, a distal end and a biasing means, such as spring, abutting the distal end of the rod to urge the proximal end of the rod into contact with the teeth on the first working gear. The proximal end of the rod is adapted to contact the teeth on the first working gear to permit rotation of the first working gear around the first axle in one rotational direction while preventing rotation of the first working gear around the first axle in the opposite rotational direction.
The operating mechanism of the handcuff of the '224 patent cooperates with a locking mechanism which converts rotational motion to linear motion. The locking mechanism is comprised of a cam in operable combination with a cam follower, referred to as a cam lever, which is perpendicularly and rigidly attached to the mentioned linear rod of the control pin at a point intermediate the proximal end and the distal end of the linear rod.
The cam of the handcuff of the '224 patent is a plate having a hole in one end, referred to as the axle end, and a forked end linearly spaced apart from the axle end. The cam is referred to as a yoke. The axle end of the yoke is closed and rotatably mounted on a yoke axle. The forked end of the yoke is open having a first leg on one side of the opening and a second leg on the opposite side of the opening side. The second leg is spaced apart from the first leg.
The yoke axle is perpendicularly fixed to the planar base. The axle end of the yoke is rotatably mounted on the yoke axle so that the cam lever on the control pin is situated between the first leg and the second leg of the forked end of the yoke. The yoke rotates around the yoke axle in a plane parallel to the planar base. Rotation of the yoke around the yoke axle in one rotational direction causes contact between the cam lever and the inside surface of the first leg to thereby linearly urge the rod against the biasing means at the distal end of the rod. Rotation of the yoke around the yoke axle in the opposite rotational direction causes contact between the cam lever and the inside surface of the second leg to thereby linearly urge the proximal end of the rod against the teeth of the first working gear.
The locking mechanism of the handcuff of the '224 patent can be further comprised of a means for rotating the yoke on the yoke axle and detent means for maintaining the position of the yoke with respect to the cam lever in either the closing position or the locked position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,224 discloses an operating mechanism featuring a control pin which directly contacts a working gear. Also illustrated is an embodiment featuring an array of three intermeshing gears consisting of two working gears and one idler gear. U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,666, a parent of the present application, discloses an operating mechanism featuring a control pin which directly contacts the idler gear.
The cam employed in the disclosures of the '224 patent and the '666 patent is an oval plate in the shape of a yoke having a closed end and an open end. The oval plate is positioned in a cavity of the machinery space. A key is employed to rotate the plate around the yoke axle to position the control pin in a desired location. The yoke axle is not placed in the center of the cavity. Accordingly, the eccentric position of the yoke axle requires a cavity much larger in size than the cam to enable rotational movement of the cam.
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/766,235, a parent of the present invention, discloses a handcuff having an electro-mechanical locking mechanism which can be remotely operated with an electronic key to control the rotation of a gear around a gear axle, i.e., a hub. The handcuff of application Ser. No. 10/766,235 comprises a bi-directional solenoid, having an associated power source and a UHF receiver, a cam, and an accutation arm. The cam is moved by the bi-directional solenoid. The solenoid and cam, in combination with a UHF RF transmitter, permit the handcuff to be locked and unlocked electronically. The use of a mechanical key is not required, but may be employed.
The cam and actuation arm operate in combination to linearly move a control rod which is adapted to contact the teeth of the gear.
The cam is a flat, substantially circular, plate which is rotatably attached to an axle. The axle, referred to as the cam axle, is perpendicularly fixed to a planar base. The cam is adapted to rotate around the cam axle in a plane which is parallel to the base. The gear hub, mentioned above, is, preferably, perpendicularly fixed to the same planar base as the cam axle. The gear is adapted to rotate around the hub in a plane which is parallel to the base. The circular cam is positioned in a circular cavity in the machine space. The cam axle is substantially centered in the circular cavity.
The actuation arm is comprised of a cylinder and a housing. The hollow interior of the housing contains at least one coil of the type adapted to conduct an electric current. The cylinder includes a plunger adapted to longitudinally slide within the coils in the hollow interior of the housing. The plunger slides within the coils upon passage of an electric current through the coils. Linear movement of the plunger operates to cause the cam to rotate.